Currently, there are known carriers for retaining a predetermined number of containers, such as bottles or cans or others used for containing carbonated beverages, e.g., soda-pop, water, etc.
The most common bottle carrier is the so-called "basket carrier" which, as the name denotes, is formed into a basket which receives a predetermined number of bottles. Six packs of soda and beer are often seen using such basket carriers. These carriers have several drawbacks. First, the blanks for the carriers are complex, requiring equally complex machinery for their construction. In addition, filling the bottles using these carriers is also tedious and time-consuming. Finally, these basket carriers are difficult to stack, such as for display in a store.
To that end, bottle carriers have been developed which include a plurality of neck-receiving apertures. Typically, the apertures include a number of radially extending tabs projecting from the circumferential margin of the aperture which engage the chime or the crown of the bottle to hold the bottle in the carrier. To remove the bottles from the carrier, the bottles must be individually pulled downwardly through the tabs. The force required, however, to overcome the restraining force of the tabs is significant and difficult to overcome. It has been found that pivoting or hinging the bottle eases in the removal of the bottles, most notably, in plastic carriers of the type, but in removing a bottle as described the structural integrity of the carrier may be compromised or in other instances, other bottles may be inadvertently released, either agitating the contents or breaking the bottles.
To solve the above problems, some carriers introduced release mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,464 issued to Galbierz et al. and filed Jul. 29, 1994 describes a paperboard carrier having individual tear strips which expand the bottle neck apertures. A tear-strip can release mechanism is described by U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,500 to Poupitch. Another Galbierz et al. patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,776 filed Oct. 6, 1995, describes a paperboard carrier using a perforated strip which removes a first ply of material and expands openings to facilitate removal of bottles from the carrier. In this particular mechanism, the second ply includes the entirety of the tabs as well as a series of release openings such that removal of the first ply expands the bottle neck opening allowing the bottle to break through a slit forming a tab and allow the bottle to pass to the release opening. Such a mechanism as described is complex and difficult to manufacture. Moreover, such a design is not equally suitable for plastic bottle holders, which are becoming increasingly popular due to their ease in molding and ability to mass-produce.